


A Final Day

by Yuki_Cross99



Series: After The Game [1]
Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Comfort, Composer Joshua, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Joshua opens up, Kirikoma, M/M, Mentor Hanekoma, NeShiki, NekuShiki, Post-Reapers' Game (TWEWY), Sad with a Happy Ending, TWEWY Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26676022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuki_Cross99/pseuds/Yuki_Cross99
Summary: "See you there?" It was those very words that destroyed the Composer, of course he couldn't simply enter the RG, that was dangerous. But what if, he had just one day?
Relationships: Hanekoma Sanae & Kiryu "Joshua" Yoshiya, Misaki Shiki/Sakuraba Neku
Series: After The Game [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941529
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	A Final Day

"Do you want to see them, Sir?" Hanekoma and Joshua sat atop Pork City overseeing the recently restored Shibuya, many planes higher than the Real Ground. It was a complete change of heart that, to the untrained eye, might seem like it came out of nowhere, but of course, Joshua's faith had slowly been restored, not just in people or Shibuya, but in his own life. And his proxy, who was meant to prove his point, was the catalyst for this change.

"Sanae, you know I cannot enter the RG as I please, doing so last time was dangerous, and I have no intention or reason to-"

"With all due respect, Sir..." Hanekoma interrupted Joshua. "...it's not like you to make excuses, and that's not what I asked. Do you **want** to go and see them?" 

Joshua sighed, as the two friends continued observing the group. "More than anything, I'd love to experience one day in Shibuya as it is now. Who wouldn't?" Joshua stood up, with Hanekoma shortly following suit. "But, the UG needs it's Composer. I can't just leave the UG unattended again, not after Kitaniji almost-" 

"Sir, Kitaniji isn't here anymore, and one day isn't going to do any harm. There aren't even any Games currently active, so, again with all due respect, stop avoiding it, and go." Hanekoma didn't even look to Joshua, but he could tell his expression was sorrowful, one he had become used to seeing these past few weeks.

"Are you sure, Sanae?" Joshua's radiant aura began to dim as he reverted to his childlike appearance he adopted for the previous Game, looking to Hanekoma almost as if seeking approval. Hanekoma silently nodded, as Joshua, in turn, silently left, leaping from the building as his angel wings manifested to carry him down to the Real Ground once more.

Hanekoma held the back of his neck, his own magnificent wings emerging as he began to fly off. "All you need is closure, Sir. I hope you find it."

* * *

" _See you there? ...Heh, who the hell am I kidding? He's got his own problems..."_

"Neku!" Shiki's voice immediately broke Neku's train of thought, and he turned to face her. "Thought you'd gone back to shut--in Neku on me for a moment!" Shiki teased as she stuck close to Neku.

Neku shook his head. "Hey, I'm not entirely over it yet, y'know?"

"I know, just take your time , ok?" Shiki slowly joined her hand with Neku's, causing the boy to smile sheepishly.

With everyone finally gathered at Hachiko, Beat was the first to speak up.

"Listen yo, I ain't... I ain't exactly good with the emotions and stuff, but you guys have no idea how happy I am that we're all here." It didn't take to long for Beat's tough exterior to crumble as tears were already forming, leading to Rhyme needing to comfort him. "I'm fine yo!"

"I feel the same, Beat. It's... like I'm a completely new person, and it's thanks to you guys." Shiki shared the sentiment, as the group sat down around the statue. Neku took this time to silently gaze at the statue of the loyal dog. 

"Not all of us..."

"Huh? What's up man?" Beat wiped the tears away, looking up at Neku, with Rhyme an Shiki also stopping to listen.

"We're not all here... Joshua should be here too." Neku's gaze didn't leave Hachiko. "I miss him..."

There was an awkward silence among the group, Shiki clearing her throat to break the tension. "I'm... I'm sure he's ok wherever he is Neku."

Neku shook his head, looking back to everyone. "Sorry, I know you guys didn't get to know him like... like I did. I shouldn't have brought him up."

"Ayo don't be sorry man, jus' cos' we weren't his friends don't mean you gotta act like you weren't." Beat quickly tried to make his friend feel better.

"Yeah, Beat's right. If you have to, you're completely fine to talk about it Neku, please don't hide this stuff. It's not a burden, I promise." Rhyme joined in, agreeing with her brother's sentiment.

Shiki also agreed. "Exactly, don't bottle it up, all right?"

Neku smiled, looking back to the statue one last time. "He's... probably busy anyway..."

As Neku turned to face his friends again, everything seemed to slow down to a halt, and as he began to realize it, his eyes grew heavy all of a sudden, and before long, closed seemingly out of nowhere.

* * *

Neku woke to an unfamiliar scene, and gazed in awe at the clear blue skies in front of him which seemed to extend forever. _"What the..."_ Neku's eyes feel to the person he now realized was sitting beside him. "Joshua!?" Neku's eyes widened.

"You seem surprised." Joshua didn't look at Neku, he kept staring out to the skies ahead of them.

Neku slowly turned back to face the sky as well. "I... I don't know, sorta? What are you doing here? What about... the UG?"

Joshua chuckled quietly as he shook his head. "Sa- Mr. H, he's taking care of things."

Neku wasn't exactly sure what to say at this point. "RIght, that makes sense..."

"Say, how is living treating you?" Joshua remarked.

"What? I guess it's better than being dead, right?"

"Hm, can't say, I've been dead for quite some time now, you know?"

There was a silent pause as the two sat there. Neku glanced over at Joshua again, he hadn't moved, it seemed. "Hey, Josh. Are you really here?" Neku broke the silence, and his question caused Joshua to finally look over at him.

"Hmm? Well, that's certainly a, unique, question Neku." Joshua grinned as Neku groaned in annoyance. "I suppose you could say yes and no. We're in the RG at the moment, but time is on our side. What'll feel like ages for you will be in the blink of an eye for everyone else." Joshua turned away again.

"Right. I'm just gonna say I passed out and this is a dream." Neku rolled his eyes.

"Whatever works for you, dear." Joshua giggled.

"Ugh. So... Why didn't you come to Hachiko? I wanted you to join us, y'know?"

Joshua sighed. "I know. And I'm flattered that you wanted me there, really. But consider this, you might welcome me there but what about the others?"

"They're a lot better than you give them credit for, Josh." 

"And I'm sure they are. But to be honest I didn't come here for a sentimental reunion. I'm only here to observe if the RG is stable after everything that happened. That's it."

Neku began laughing at his remark. "As if. You're so stuck in observation that you dragged me along? Right."

Joshua fell silent for a moment. "Hm. Maybe I should destroy Shibuya."

"What!? Hey come on you're past that, right?" Neku immediately faced Joshua in shock.

"Of course, you can relax. What I mean to say is, that sentiment is something I held firmly to for ages. And yet somehow, you changed my mind. I don't what you did Neku, but it was impressive."

"Wait what are you-"

"Thank you, Neku." Joshua turned to face Neku once more, a smile forming on his face. Neku could tell that this was genuine. "Thank you for saving me, and in turn saving them." Without looking away, Joshua pointed down to the cityscape below them. Neku peered over the edge of the building to see Hachiko, and himself and all of his friends surrounding the statue.

"Josh, I didn't save anyone, that was y-"

"It's ok to be proud of yourself for once, you can take pleasure in knowing I won't hold it over you if you decide to gloat for saving Shibuya." Joshua giggled once again, despite his heartfelt speech, Joshua was still Joshua.

"If... If I did help you, then I'm glad." 

Joshua nodded in agreement. "Good on you Neku. I'm proud of how far you've come." Joshua stood up, as his brilliant aura began to surround him, causing Neku to cover his face. His voice became distorted as his Composer form took priority. " **If circumstances had've been different, I'm sure we'd be great friends. But you have your real friends who are waiting for you, so go. Go and enjoy your second chance at life.** "

"Can you not stay longer?" Neku's tone fell to one of disappointment as he stood in front of the Composer.

" **I can, but trust me when I say I've overstayed my welcome. Neku, I'm glad we got to speak again, even if only for a short amount of time. You were a fantastic Player, so now go and be a fantastic Human, you have that privilege.** "

As the Composer lifted his hand, Neku felt his eyes grow heavy once more, and just as quickly as he 'left', he returned to conciousness at Hachiko. "JOSH!" he instinctively screamed as he came to, scaring his friends.

"Yeah... man we know, ok?" Beat quickly reassured his friend, this was met by support from Rhyme and Shiki in turn. Neku looked around quickly as he searched for any sign of Joshua. Of course it was in vain.

" _Of course you'd be telling the truth about that huh?_ " Neku quickly faced his friends once more, giving them a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, but I think it'll take a while, I'm sorry."

Shiki was the first to respond. "Don't be sorry Neku, I'm, _we're_ all here for you." She then caught the unsuspecting teen in a hug, as Beat and Rhyme immediately joined in.

"Thank you." Neku closed his eyes, tears begging to form and stain his face. " _For everything..._ "

As the group broke the hug, Beat spoke up to break the tension. "Phones, I don't know aboutchu but I'm starvin'! C'mon, let's get to Dogenzaka so you can buy us lunch!" Without hesitation, he pulled out his board, grabbed Rhyme in his arms and took off towards Ramen Don.

"You're shouting lunch? Thanks Neku!" Shiki joined in on the teaser and followed the siblings close behind.

"Wha- HEY! Get back here you guys!" Neku wiped away his tears and chased after his friends in pursuit. Regardless of the challenges they would face, at least now the four were able to tackle them together as friends.

* * *

"I see your back quicker than I expected, Sir." Joshua and Hanekoma were back in their usual meeting spot atop Pork City, planes higher than the RG, silently observing.

"It seems the city is holding up well Sanae, you did a good job on the restoration." Joshua firmly spoke, a little different than in their last meeting.

"Are you choking up, Sir?" Hanekoma had naturally seen him and Neku's conversation, and expected this to happen.

"N-no... Of course not. I'm just shocked at how much has changed, that's all."

"In Shibuya, or in the proxy?"

Joshua fell silent, but for the first time in a long time, tears fell from His face.

Hanekoma smiled. "It's okay, Joshua, it's okay..."

Joshua moved closer to Hanekoma, letting himself fall into his friend and mentor's arms, as he began genuinely crying for the first time in many, many years. "I just... what if I didn't give up all those years ago Mr. H? I shouldn't have been so weak!"

"You say you were weak, but think about this, without you here now, many people in Shibuya wouldn't have been reformed, at least not in the way you've helped them." Hanekoma caressed Joshua as his tears continued to fall. "We can't return to being human, but we can take pride in the fact that we're able to help them. They're a wonderful species, and I'm at least personally happy you didn't give up on them."

"Mr. H, tell me something..."

Hanekoma silently nodded.

"If I'd have continued to go through with my plan, would... would you have... erased me?"

Hanekoma took a small pause to collect his thoughts. "Heh, what're you talking about. Even if I wanted to, do you think I could?" Hanekoma gave a somewhat mischievous grin at Joshua's statement, causing Joshua to slowly stop crying.

Joshua sat up, wiping away any remaining tears he had left, and faced Hanekoma. "Can... can we just stay here a while? I don't feel like returning just yet."

Hanekoma's beaming smile was welcoming and reassuring to the Composer, and the two looked down on the district once again. "I don't see why not, Boss. I don't see why not..."


End file.
